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The company was founded in 1945 by the newly-formed Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government under Premier Tommy Douglas. It was created to allow the CCF government to nationalize the province's automobile insurance industry. Since its inception, SGI has held a monopoly on basic automobile insurance coverage in Saskatchewan.
In the early 1990s, the Progressive ConservativeThe Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan is a political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Prior to 1942, it was known as the Conservative Party of Saskatchewan . It nominated candidates for the first time in the 1912 election, seve government under PremierA premier is an executive official of government. In many nations the term "premier" is used interchangeably with the title of " prime minister. For example, the "Italian Premier" or the "Japanese Premier. In the People's Republic of China it is used some Grant DevineDonald Grant Devine (born 1944) was the Progressive Conservative Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from May 8, 1982 to November 1, 1991. A farmer, teacher and agricultural economist, Devine taught at the University of Saskatchewan in the 19 proposed privatizingPrivatization (sometimes: denationalization privatisation or — especially in India — disinvestment is the economic process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. An opposite process is nationalization. In theory, privatizati SGI. The plan met with fierce opposition, however, and the Tories were not able to carry out the proposal prior to defeat in the 19911991 like 2002, is a palindromic year. It also has the same calendar as 2002, including Easter on March 31. It is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January January 2 Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first blac general electionA general election is an election in which all members of a given political body are up for election. The term is generally used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections. by the New Democrats under Roy Romanow. The privatization of SGI was an issue once again during the 2003 general election campaign.
Under Romanow, SGI switched to a no fault claims system, which was perceived as an unfair system by some. These critics were further infuriated when SGI used what they perceived as taxpayers' money to run a series advertisements promoting no fault insurance. In 2003, however, SGI went to some length to appease its detractors by allowing policy holders to opt out of the no fault system. Those who have opted out are back under the traditional tort system.
As of 2004, the company is divided into three distinct operations:SGI also operates 20 claims centres and five vehicle salvage operations in Saksatchewan.
Perhaps more significantly, SGI also administers driving examinations and issues Saskatchewan driver's licences, vehicle registrations and licence plates. In fact, the vehicle registration, licence plate and basic insurance policy are sold as one package and once registered, the vehicle can be driven by anyone with a valid licence without compromising the insurance coverage. A poor driving record will not affect the cost of the vehicle registration or basic insurace - instead, SGI will charge a higher premium for the driver's licence, which must be renewed annually. The cost of the licence is not affected by the driver's age, gender or driving experience.
In 2003, SGI promoted its automobile insurance system with advertisements contrasting the cost for a young driver to purchase its basic insurance policy compared with similar policies purchased in Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver. The campaign was attacked by some critics as thinly veiled, taxpayer-funded NDP advertising on the eve of an election campaign. (After the writ was dropped, the NDP paid for a separate series of ads that specifically and aggressively criticized Alberta's privatized automobile insurance system.)
In addition, the Fraser Institute used the SGI campaign to severely criticize SGI and public automobile insurance in general, asserting that SGI was effectively forcing good drivers to subsidize the cost of accidents caused by high-risk drivers. Critics of the privatized system counter that charging high premiums on young drivers places an unreasonable burden on those who often can least afford it.